"There was no real transparency in the funding grant and it raises a lot of questions about industry policy from this Government," she said.

Ms Mirabella says the Coalition supports the car industry, but it is not happy with the current funding program.

"We have said publicly, and to the car companies, we want to support them, but we think there needs to be a better way forward," she said.

"That better way involves working with the Productivity Commission and the industry itself to come up with a clear and transparent funding program that is determined at arm's length with clear benchmarks and guidelines."

Federal Industry Minister Greg Combet says although the car industry faces significant challenges, it still has a future in Australia.

"This industry is going through a period of significant structural adjustment, and of course there has been a good degree of discussion about Toyota and Holden in recent months as well," he said.

"I want to make it very clear that the Government is very committed to working with the manufacturers and the component suppliers who are crucial to that industry."

Surprise

Earlier this year Toyota announced it would cut 350 workers from its Altona plant, but today's announcement from Ford took the unions by surprise.

"I know the unions are very keen to avoid what played out at Toyota recently; having a bunch of workers that wanted to go that were told they had to stay, and a bunch of workers that wanted to stay, saying that they had to go," he said.

"We're hopeful that that's not going to be the situation here at Ford and the unions will be working closely to try and get that process underway."

Ford Australia says most of the positions to go will be in the manufacturing sector.

There's been a decline across the large car segment in Australia, and it's not just Ford.

Neil McDonald, Ford spokesman

Spokesman Neil McDonald says with large car sales falling, the company is trying to provide certainty for staff and customers.

"There's been a decline across the large car segment in Australia, and it's not just Ford," he said.

"Large car sales are down 25 per cent this year compared to the same time last year and it's a continuation of a decade-long decline."